1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scanner relay apparatus that relays communication between a scanner apparatus and a plurality of terminals, the scanner apparatus sending out operation identification information associated with each of predetermined plural sorts of operation inputs, reading image data from an original according to an image reading command received from outside in response to the operation identification information and sending out the image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, a network scanner apparatus that can be shared by network-connection to a plurality of terminals (users) such as personal computers is in the process of becoming widely used, but a network-inapplicable scanner apparatus used by one-to-one connection to one terminal is still utilized. There is a high need of making such a network-inapplicable scanner apparatus network-applicable.
By the way, among conventional network-inapplicable scanner apparatuses, there is a scanner apparatus that is provided with input means having, for instance, a plurality of scanning start buttons and thereby capable of executing plural sorts of operation inputs, and that is capable of previously registering conditions of reading original images, application software to be implemented at a terminal for handling read images or the like, into an external apparatus connected to the scanner apparatus for the respective operation inputs. In the following description, a network-inapplicable scanner apparatus that has a registering function as mentioned above will be referred to as a multi-condition registering type scanner apparatus.
A procedure of controlling image reading on the multi-condition registering type scanner apparatus will be described by using FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of controlling image reading on the conventional multi-condition registering type scanner apparatus. S101, S102 and successive numbers hereinafter represent numbers of processes (steps). In the following description, the multi-condition registering type scanner apparatus will be described as a scanner apparatus A.
First, on the scanner apparatus A, when one of the predetermined plural sorts of operation inputs is detected as having been performed (step S101), scan ID (an example of the operation identification information) which is identification information associated with the performed operation input is sent to a host apparatus (an example of the terminal) such as a personal computer connected one to one by a SCSI interface, a USB interface or the like (step S102: a process corresponding to a process of sending out the operation identification information).
Meanwhile, on the host apparatus, when the scan ID is received (step S111), a scan condition associated with the scan ID received at step S111 is selected on the basis of a scan condition (a condition of reading an original image) that is previously set (registered) for each of the scan IDs, and additionally, a scan command associated with the scan condition is generated (step S112). The scan command is a command for causing the scanner apparatus A to execute image reading on the scan condition. Furthermore, the scan command thus generated is sent to the scanner apparatus A (step S113).
On the other hand, on the scanner apparatus A, when the scan command sent from the host apparatus is received (step S103), scanning (reading an original image) is executed under an image reading condition (color/monochrome, resolution, density or the like) complying with the scan command (step S104), and the read image data is sent to the host apparatus (step S105: a process corresponding to a process of sending out image data).
Meanwhile, on the host apparatus, when the image data from the scanner apparatus A is received (step S114), application software for handling image data (software for displaying and editing an image) that is previously set (registered) for each of the scan IDs is activated with the received image data being specified. This leads to a state in which the image data received at step S114 can be handled by the activated application software.
Such processing as mentioned above can save time to vary a set scan condition for each use on the presumption that different scan conditions (image reading conditions) and different application software programs are set (registered) for the respective scan IDs.
Here, the multi-condition registering type scanner apparatus is a so-called push type scanner apparatus having a system in which reading an image is executed by a user's operation of starting to read an image on a side of the scanner apparatus and read image data is sent toward the host apparatus.
Meanwhile, as prior art of making the network-inapplicable scanner apparatus network-applicable, for instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 10-269157 (1998) discloses a peripheral equipment control apparatus which can interconnect a SCSI interface with a network interface and can transmit data between equipments connected to these interfaces respectively.
However, as to a scanner apparatus to which the art disclosed in JP-A 10-269157 is applied, the scanner apparatus is a so-called pull type scanner apparatus having a system in which by a user's operation of starting to read an image on a side of the host apparatus, image reading is executed on a side of the scanner apparatus and read image data is sent back toward the host apparatus, and there is a problem that the scanner apparatus cannot be applied to the push type scanner apparatus like the multi-condition registering type scanner apparatus.